Le sang d’un poète

“Poets . . . shed not only the red blood of their hearts but the white blood of their souls,” proclaimed Jean Cocteau. Le sang d’un poète (1930), aka The Blood of a Poet was the first film written and directed by Jean Cocteau. It was also starred by him. The film is a surrealistic experience, it’s also one of the best expressions of poetry as a film, it’s a dream as a film, it’s about the power of metaphor and the relationship between art and dreams, it’s a realist documentary of unreal events and it’s also a homage to the memory of Pisanello, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Andrea del Castagno, who where all painters of insignias and enigmas. It’s a masterpiece, a must see.
You can watch it here. The texts are in English, but it has the original audio in French, without subtitles. And I’m not going to post the video embed here, because the film has 50 minutes. I hope you enjoy it. Read more about it at The Missing Link, Senses of Cinema, Jean Cocteau Website and Movie Martyr.
Update: Ok, time is over, the film is no loger available there, but, if you liked it or have any intrest in it, my sugestion is buy the new DVD released by The Criterion Collection.